ABC 33/40 - Birmingham News, Weather, SportsDental Health & Smokers

Another reason to quit smoking is to protect your oral health.

New medical information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that adult smokers are twice as likely to develop oral health problems as those who have kicked the habit.

The CDC says, current smokers are four times more likely to develop oral conditions, such as mouth cancers, gum disease and cavities that is compared to people who never smoked,.

Researchers also found that smokers between the ages of 18 and 64 are nearly 1.5 times as likely as former smokers and more than twice as likely as people who never smoked to have three or more oral health problems.

The researchers reported that people who smoke are about twice as likely to have not been to the dentist in more than five years or not at all.